Waterford Hotel Group has announced the appointment of Christopher Flagg as director of development.

Flagg, who brings more than 10 years of experience to the job, previously worked as managing director of Definitive Consulting Group in California. He also worked for HEI Hotels & Resorts in Connecticut as director of development and later as vice president of development.

Flagg holds a master's degree in hospitality administration from Cornell University. He and his wife Arian reside in Salem with their three children.

Waterford Hotel Group operates 33 properties in nine states. For more information, visit www.waterfordhotelgroup.com.

Mystic's Springline Yacht Sales has been named the exclusive Northeast dealer of a new line of performance cruising sailboats called Blue Jacket Yachts.

The Blue Jacket 40 is the first in a planned series and has been designed by Tim Jackett in collaboration with Bob Johnson, a pair whose designs have won a total of 15 Boat of the Year awards.

"Blue Jacket is the first brand new American-built performance cruiser - from the keel up - to hit the market in over 30 years. We are excited to be a part of that," said Rick Dieterich, president of Springline Yacht Sales. "The Blue Jacket 40 is a new, sleek and luxurious boat."

For more information, go to info@springlineyachtsales.com.

A Baltic family whose identity has yet to be revealed won a complete makeover of their home's exterior in connection with GAF's Homeliest Home Contest.

GAF, which bills itself as America's largest roofing manufacturer, will unveil the renovations Wednesday on the national morning show "FOX & Friends."

The family, whose home was damaged by harsh winter weather and last year's Tropical Storm Irene, won a makeover that includes roofing, windows, siding, stone veneer, railing and more.

The exterior work was designed by Ply Gem.

Marriage and family therapist Jane Milardo of Niantic has published her first book, "The Path to Real and Lasting Inner Peace," which is based on her work with recovering drug and alcohol addicts.

Milardo, who grew up in Durham, earned a bachelor of arts degree in cultural anthropology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., and went on to pursue a master's degree in marriage and family therapy at Southern Connecticut State University.

She has two adult children and is married to Mike Guarini.

Book signings are scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Breakwater Books in Guilford and from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22 at Bank Square Books in Mystic.

"The Path to Real and Lasting Inner Peace" is available at Amazon.com and CreateSpace.com.

In celebration of Central Auto Group's 20th year in business, owner David Cartwright gave away a top prize of $5,000, which Joan Perrone won in a drawing held July 31.

More than 300 people from Plainfield and the surrounding towns of Sterling, Brooklyn and Danielson attended the event, which featured entertainment by Rewind, a Plainfield-based band. Radio stations WBLQ, WBMW and Jammin 107.7 broadcast the event, with Christopher Dipaola of WBLQ acting as master of ceremonies.

Food was provided by Joyce's Everyday Gourmet of Westerly and Gus's Pizzarama of Plainfeild.

More than 40 Norwich Free Academy students have participated in CorePlus Federal Credit Union's student intern program, which has been in place since 2006.

Each year, five or six students are selected to participate by NFA faculty members.

The paid summer internships enable students to learn the day-to-day operations of a credit union as well as the importance of building professional job skills. After a two-day orientation session, interns report for work at the credit union's branch locations. Additional learning takes place through online course work at CU Digital University.

CorePlus is honoring the interns by listing their names on a plaque located at the credit union's branch office at 202 Salem Turnpike in Norwich. For more information, contact Susan M. Dombrowski at 860-886-0576, extension 3171 or sdombrowski@coreplus.org.

Connecticut Light & Power has announced the start of the second year of its Home Energy Reports pilot program, an Energize Connecticut initiative.

Last year, 24,000 randomly selected CL&P customers received customized reports that detailed their home's energy usage. The reports were designed to help customers assess and track their level of energy consumption, and included tips for no-cost, low-cost, and long-term investment options, customized for their home, to reduce energy use.

The reports compare energy usage at 100 homes of similar size in each customer's area.

Beginning this month, 7,000 of the original 24,000 customers who participated in the program have been asked to participate again. Some 10,000 new customers have also been asked to participate. The enlistment of repeat customers will enable Home Energy Reports administrators to compare customer participation levels and energy-saving results from year to year.

The first year of the program produced an average of 1.7 percent in energy savings for participating customers, saving them more than $900,000 on their combined electric bills. More information, including a sample Home Energy Report, is available at www.cl-p.com.

Washington Trust has announced that C. Scott Ostrowski, of North Kingstown, R.I., has been promoted to senior vice president and director of internal audit, replacing James J. Walther, who will retire in September after a 40-year auditing career.

Ostrowski, a certified internal auditor, is responsible for managing all facets of full-scope audits, establishing the annual audit schedule and presenting audit findings and recommendations to management and the audit committee of the board of directors.

Ostrowski has more than 25 years of banking experience in internal audit, branch operations and project management. Prior to joining Washington Trust in 2006, he served as vice president and senior project manager at Citizen's Bank. A graduate of the University of Rhode Island, he serves as a board member of The Institute of Internal Auditors (Ocean State Chapter) and served as treasurer and president of the board.

He is also a certified fraud examiner and a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

During July, members of the local sailing community came together to sail and celebrate in support of Hospice Southeastern Connecticut, which recognizes the Mystic River Mudheads, the Niantic Bay Yacht Club, the Stonington Dinghy Club and the Thames Yacht Club.

Regatta committee members were Judy Gibbs (chair), Rob Amrein, Bob Austin-LaFrance, Ann Bergendahl, Greg Gilmartin, David Kelly, Cathy Landers and Sue Senning.

Thanks to the generosity of more than 150 skippers and their crews, almost 600 partygoers and more than 100 business donors/sponsors and many volunteers, the Hospice Southeastern Connecticut Regatta Series has so far raised more than $60,500.

The series will conclude Sept. 7 with a cocktail party and silent auction hosted by the Niantic Bay Yacht Club. Everyone who attends is asked to wear something white to honor those touched by Hospice Southeastern Connecticut.

To view race results and photos from the events, visit www.facebook.com/HospiceSECT.

Bob Valenti Chevrolet is supporting the Stonington Soccer Club through the Chevrolet Youth Soccer Program, providing financial support and donations of equipment.

Chevrolet Youth Soccer is a grassroots initiative designed to establish a positive relationship between local dealers and the communities they serve. Bob Valenti Chevrolet is sponsoring the Stonington Soccer Club as part of Chevrolet's nationwide commitment to support youth sports.

Each sponsored organization will take part in the "Chevrolet Youth Soccer Breakaway Giveaway," a fundraiser in which each group can raise $10,000. The giveaway features a grand prize of an 2013 Chevrolet Malibu.

On Aug. 7 a public reception was held at Fairview Oddfellows Home of Connecticut to officially unveil the Chelsea Cottage sign. The cottage is named in honor of Chelsea Groton Bank, whose Foundation made a five year $25,000 grant to Fairview's Land Development Fund. The fund was established to build independent senior housing on Fairview's Groton campus.

Chelsea Groton Bank President and CEO Michael Rauh, Fairview Oddfellows Home CEO James Rosenman, and Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce President Tricia Cunningham were featured at the sign dedication.

Chelsea Groton Bank established its philanthropic foundation in 1999 with a $2 million endowment. The foundation's mission is to improve life in Southeastern Connecticut and Westerly, Rhode Island through financial distributions to charitable and social service agencies serving these regions. Since its inception, the foundation has awarded $1,333,605 to 432 organizations. To learn more about the foundation, please chelseagroton.com/foundation.php.

At its leadership meeting held recently at Six Flags in Agawam, Mass., one of Panera Bread's foremost franchises, the Howley Bread Group, LTD, based in Cumberland, R.I., recognized a number of its employees for excellence and leadership during the second quarter of 2012. The Howley Bread Group owns and operates twenty-four Panera Bread bakery-cafes in Greater Hartford/Eastern Connecticut, Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island markets.

The following were among those named "Associate of the Quarter" for their respective cafes:

Jeff Sena, Foxwoods/Mashantucket

Damon Meeks, Groton

Katie Joslyn, Lisbon

Mike Lawrence, Waterford

Webster Bank, a leading bank serving businesses and consumers from Westchester County, N.Y. to Boston, Mass., has announced the hiring of Greg Woods as senior vice president, Chief Procurement Officer.

Woods brings more than 15 years of procurement and operations experience to the role.

Previously, he served as director of Tenzing Consulting, LLC and president and founder of Sea Change Enterprises, Inc. for the past eight years. Before that, Woods was a founding partner and board member of Silver Oak Solutions, a strategic procurement consulting firm. He has extensive experience in the finance and banking industries and also served as a United States Naval Officer. Woods will be based in Farmington.

He earned his B.S. from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and his MBA from the University of San Diego.

The Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut has seats remaining for its latest brown bag seminar Wednesday at the Chamber office, 914 Hartford Turnpike, Waterford. The presentation, one of an ongoing series, will focus on the Adobe design bundle and will be led by a speaker from A-OK Consulting.

The programs are offered to chamber members without charge, but reservations are necessary. Contact the chamber at 860-701-9113, or visit www.ChamberECT.com and click on chamber programs and events.

Cheryl M. McGlynn has joined Savings Institute Bank & Trust as assistant vice president, branch manager for the bank's Moosup office, according to Jonathan Wood, senior vice president retail Bbanking.

McGlynn has more than 10 years of experience in the financial services industry, most recently as Banking Center Manager at Bank of America in Danielson. Prior to that, she held similar management positions in the Waterford, Plainfield and Groton offices of Citizens Bank.

McGlynn has earned her General Banking Diploma from the Center for Financial Training (CFT). She has also pursued CFT course work in areas that include Economics, Law and Banking, Accounting, Business Communications and Principles of Management. She also holds an Associates Degree in Travel and Tourism from the Sawyer School in Warwick, R.I.

A Griswold resident, McGlynn has been active in her local PTO and PAC, and is proud to have co-captained the Relay for Life for the past three years.

In her new position, . McGlynn will be responsible for leading branch staff in maintaining current standards of customer service, while reaching out to customers in the Moosup region with the bank's offerings of personal and business banking products. McGlynn can be reached at 860-564-3328.

Emily Lerner, CST, LMT, recently achieved certification through the Upledger Institute. Emily completed a rigorous, multi-step exam process required to achieve techniques Certification. The Upledger Institute is a clinical and educational center founded in 1985 by Dr. John E. Upledger, D.O., and the originator of CranioSacral Therapy. Based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., it holds over 700 workshops per year throughout the world and has to-date trained more than 25,000 practitioners in CST.

Lerner operates a private practice in New London, offering CranioSacral Therapy for Adults and Children. Emily has been a holistic bodywork practitioner since 1999. She is a member of the International Alliance of Healthcare Educators and the national and state branch of the American Massage Therapist's Association. To learn more about Emily's practice, visit www.emilylernerlmt.com or contact her at 860-501-3109.

Suisman Shapiro attorneys-at-law will host a business after hours networking event Sept. 5 at Union Plaza, new London, an event that will be co-hosted and catered by A Thyme to Cook.

The annual event is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Admission is $15 for chamber members, $25 for others who wish to attend. Complimentary hors d'oeuvres, wine, beer, and soft drinks will be served.

The chamber will also offer a networking mini-workshop, starting at 5 p.m., at no additional charge.

To register, or obtain additional information, contact the chamber at 860-701-9113, or visit www.ChamberECT.com and click on chamber programs and events.

Community organizations and business groups wanting to learn more about the electrical system can now do so by scheduling "Exploring Electricity," a new multi-media presentation from Connecticut Light & Power. Exploring Electricity covers a variety of topics ranging from how electricity is delivered to the production of green energy. It also provides a step-by-step overview of how CL&P manages storm preparation, how customers should prepare before a storm, and the electricity restoration process.

"Why do my neighbors have power after a storm and I don't? How does green energy technology work? These are just a few of the questions that we frequently hear and the presentation answers," said Doug Fisher, manager, economic development and community relations, CL&P.

For more visit www.cl-p.com, and click "In the Community," followed by "Request a Speaker."

The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce's public access television show Mystic Matters will air Mondayat 8 p.m. on Comcast Channel 12 and Thames Valley Communications Channel 12. Mystic Matters is hosted by Susette Tibus and Tricia Cunningham and this week's guest is Alexa Shelton, events director of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce who will be discussing Taste of Mystic. The annual Taste of Mystic will be held this year on Sept. 7, 8 and 9 and will feature over thirty restaurants selling samples of their cuisine. There will also be entertainment in the park and in the beer garden at the end of Cottrell Street throughout the weekend. The chamber is still looking for volunteers for this event.

Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Alexa at 860-572-5098 or alexa@mysticchamber.org For more information about the Taste of Mystic visit: www.atasteofmystic.com.

Lia Sophi recently announced top honors for its Excellent Beginnings Program Achievers for their outstanding sales accomplishments and professionalism. Having just joined the fashion jewelry business, the following local advisors have earned this prestigious accomplishment in their first 15 weeks by attaining certain sales levels and by sharing lia sophia with other new advisors:

Holly Volack of Groton, who can be contacted at www.liasophia.com/hollyvolack

Tiffany Neuendorf of Norwich, who can be contacted at Tlneuendorf@Yahoo.Com

Press releases for the Business in Brief column, which runs each Sunday, should be sent to businessbriefs@theday.com. Submit all items for consideration by Monday morning for publication in the following Sunday's business section. Generally, press releases should be no more than two to three paragraphs in length because of space limitations. Remember to include pertinent information, such as your company's telephone number, hours of operation and website address.

For general questions about Business in Brief submissions, call Lee Howard, business writer for The Day, at (860) 701-4356 or send an email to l.howard@theday.com.